Van Koeverden, Oldershaw cruise through semifinals to book spot in kayak and canoe finals — but they know it's race day that counts

AUGUST 6 - Adam van Koeverden, of Canada, races in the Men's 1000m single kayak semifinal at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

Photograph by: Tyler Anderson
, Postmedia Olympic Team

DORNEY LAKE, England — Adam van Koeverden powered out of the starting gate here as though his kayak had a big old outboard motor and canoeist Mark Oldershaw grabbed by the throat the four-year-old monkey on his back and tossed the little beggar firmly in the water.

Two of the finest of Canada's small canoe/kayak team, in other words, are poised to do well in their respective finals.

Van Koeverden won both his heat and semifinal so easily that in the former, at least, he admitted he was able to "cruise" the last 100 or 200 metres hoping "I wouldn't get blamed for unsportsmanlike behaviour [for acting] like someone just looking around."

(He was kidding, of course. Both he and Oldershaw raced twice within 90 minutes, an unusually tight and demanding schedule. Van Koeverden knew he'd burned up a lot of energy with his explosive start so he simply let up towards the end to save what he had for the semis.) As for Oldershaw, who failed to make the final of the C1 1,000 metres in Beijing and who found his family's storied history in the sport a heavy weight there, his second-place finish in Monday's semifinal was redemption, pure and simple.

But, are those chickens in your hand?

If so, if those are chickens and you're counting them, stop. Step away from the feathered fowl now.

Van Koeverden's rocket-like performance and Oldershaw's strong finishes against an all-star field undoubtedly will fuel the expectations of television-watchers and drive-by fans of the iconic Canadian sports.

Van Koeverden snorted when asked how important it was to have had a strong semifinal, what sort of "statement" he had made.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "These guys don't respect that. I mean, I don't respect someone who wins in the semi. I mean, it's a good job but the race is on Wednesday."

The finishes did buy them both one of the cherished middle lanes, an especially important consideration for canoeists, who are more affected than kayakers by the side wind that usually blows up on Dorney Lake by mid-morning.

As for Oldershaw, "I was a little nervous that I wouldn't make the final and would be a huge disappointment to everyone," he said, "but I just stuck to my race plan . . . I know I'm as fast or faster than all of these guys; if I just do my thing and not panic, then I'll be fine. And that's what I did."

In their remarks are hints of the enormous pressures borne by the athletes here, not just Canada's; they share a desperate desire to do well for nation, team and coach, family and friends, and when they fall short, the blow can be utterly devastating.

Oldershaw has done a lot of thinking about Beijing.

"I mean, it's obvious a lot of people come into their first Olympics and do well," he said, "but I just wasn't in the right place, physically and mentally, last time to be ready to do that.

"And I learned a lot from that. I didn't just take that failure and say, ah, that sucks. I took it and I learned from it and I realized that every Olympics someone's going to lose, someone's not going to make the final, and I just had to take four years to figure out how that wasn't going to be me this time."

After Beijing, he took the fall away from paddling.

"It was more of a self-reflection kind of thing, in my life in general," he said. "I just had to sit down and realize why not making a semifinal at a race in China meant that much to me. How did it affect me that much? How could I put so much of my happiness on one race?"

There is something about these sports that happen on the water — rowing, canoeing, kayaking — that tend to produce thoughtful, even cerebral, athletes. Scott Oldershaw, Mark's coach (and van Koeverden's) and father, thinks it has something to do with being alone a lot, in a peaceful and natural place.

In those awful months after Beijing, his son thought about this a lot, and re-jigged things in his head. "I love canoeing. I love what I do. But at the same time I have to have balance in my life, I can't put everything I have on one race."

This time, it seems, he's going to be able to savour the fact that he is here in London — the fifth Oldershaw to compete for Canada, the third generation of Olympians, in the very place where 64 years earlier, his grandpa Bert started the family legacy.

Bert Oldershaw, who died just before his grandson went to Beijing, competed for Canada in a now-defunct 10,000-metre race in the 1948 Games; he finished fifth.

"If I can come top five," the grandson said, "I think that'll make him proud."

Yet even van Koeverden, who is far more relaxed than he was at Beijing — where he was the defending Olympic champion, with the burden that brings, and Canada's flag bearer as well, and still won a silver — feels nervy.

He was asked if he was gearing up for the performance of his life.

"I hope so," he said. "I hope so. I've had a few other performances of my life. It's new though; it's always new. I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself, which is good I think."

A little later, he said: "I just want to race fast. Just, it has to be good. I have to race fast. Race fast. I have to be fast.

"I'm fast most days," he said, "so it doesn't have to be an exceptional day, but it has to be as fast as I can go."

Oldershaw said something similar. He was sleeping well, he said, and "I think it comes from the fact that I feel completely prepared. There's nothing else I could have done. And whether I win a medal or not, I just feel like I have done everything I can and when you have that feeling, it's easier to sleep and it's a lot less nerves."

So let that be the lesson to the nation: Don't count those chickens until they're caught. And remember, they're a lot harder to catch than you think.